The script has been selected for next years GarlickDance film festival! And the winning script "writer" was me!! Ha!! Okay...the victory isn't nearly as impressive as it sounds, because I didn't really write anything (you'll notice I put "writer" in quotes). My movies tend to be very visual and action driven...and as such the real trick for me is figuring out how I can let the characters say the lines in the script without interfering with my action. So this year I had the idea to submit a script that was blank...basically a dialogue-less script, and it won! Crazy!! Here's what I submitted as my script:
"(This is a dialogue-less script. There is to be no speaking by characters, nor other means of delivering lines as has been used in prior GarlickDance films. As per GarlickDance festival rules, a narrative prologue/postlogue is allowed, but once the film "starts" there is to be no speaking, subtitled actions, or dialogue captions. As with all GarlickDance films, background music with lyrics is allowed so long as the lyrics are not used as a means of delivering lines.)"
Several people have, in past years, complained about being forced to follow the script...this gives those people a chance to have complete freedom as directors. Well...almost complete freedom. So that there will still be a common thread through all the films, it was decided that each film is required to contain: A Duck, A Flower, and A Cutting Tool. These can appear in the films as overtly or as subtly as the directors desire...they've just gotta be in there somewhere. The idea behind having these objects is that they're fairly random, although common enough that it shouldn't be TOO hard to stick them in the films. Traditionally a big part of the GarlickDance Film Festival has been seeing how each director chose to use the same lines in different ways...hopefully these required "objects" will provide a similar How-will-this-director-use-them kinda thing.
Anyway, I'm excited to start. I laid in bed for a good hour before I fell asleep last night, thinking of ideas for dialogue-less films...no real winners yet, but something will come I'm sure.
5 comments:
Ooooh. Fun. I want to hear some of your ideas.
This probably doesn't have much bearing on anything here, but I wanted to mention a Ray Bradbury short story I read once with not only no dialogue, but no characters as well.
It featured a fully-automated, futuristic house that was abandoned, but it kept working (kinda like Wall*E). Towards the end you learn why the residents were gone. The shadows of the children are permanently etched into the side of the house from a nuclear blast.
Why don't you adapt that?
Yeah, I remember reading that as well. I hadn't considered making an adaptation of an existing work...we'll see what I think of. I'd definitely prefer to do a completely original work.
So, have you come up with any ideas yet?
I actually have come up with (what I think is) an awesome idea...but I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to pull it off. It relies heavily on good weather and children...both of which may be difficult for me to come by. I'm trying to think of alternate ideas that may be easier to execute.
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